The Treacherous Concubine’s Guide To Whitewashing

Chapter 7, Pt 1 - Loyalty

The cold moon hung suspended high in the sky and the four plains were silent.

What kind of bad luck beginning is confronting me right now? Admittedly, I’m a boss-level character, but this situation is leaking on all sides and discharging smoke in all directions. There is a crisis everywhere and just a moment of  distraction will cause this ship to capsize.

The East China Sea king and the aristocratic families who supported him are occupying the majority of the court and are covetously eyeing the other side. There is a harem full of imperial concubines wanting to cause trouble. In addition, there is Sikong Lin’s capability bomb, which would be difficult to conceal. Oh, and the largest bomb is the one hidden in the cabin behind my bedroom.

Yuan Luo held onto a banister for support. She felt ridiculous from the bottom of her heart.

At that moment, a few figures hurriedly walked past her down the corridor. The figure in the lead stood perfectly erect and was handsome with a sharp and steady attitude. With a look of surprise on seeing Yuan Luo, he immediately knelt down on one knee.

"This official pays respect to the Empress."

Yuan Luo recognized Miao Zi Fang, the commander of the Tianwu branch of the Imperial Army.

Looking at the respectful manner of the young military officer in front of her, Yuan Luo’s state of mind was slightly moved. These two years, the original owner had gathered trusted aides in the palace, had enticed the court councilor, and had also gained certain results. According to Yuan Luo’s assessment, her most remarkable achievement among these was this most, illustrious person in front of her.

During more than tens years in power, Emperor Xianning vigorously promoted the children of poor and humble families, but due to the suppression of the noble, aristocratic families, there were only a few civilian court officials. Contrary to what one might expect, many talents were produced among the warriors in the border lands. After all, it was difficult for civilian officials to render meritorious service and many of them could only depend on seniority, which the aristocratic families would ruthlessly suppress. Getting promoted to a higher position was slow. Generals were different. As long as a war started, there were no shortages of opportunities for meritorious service. Compared with generals from aristocratic families, generals from poor families dared to fight harder, so there were many more opportunities for promotion.

Miao Zi Fang was a well-known figure among them. Into his twenties, he had already been promoted to a third-rank general and was only considered slightly inferior to Gu Liang Yong. Furthermore, compared with the obstinacy of  Gu Liang Yong, Miao Zi Fang was more able to adapt to changing circumstances. After Yuan Luo had expressed goodwill several times, he effectively cast his lot with hers.

Yuan Luo raised her hand. Miao Zi Fang stood up calmly, his face serene.
 
Yuan Luo opened her mouth and said: "You appear to be in a hurry, is there an urgent matter?"

Miao Zi Fang bowed his head and said, "No."

Concise and comprehensive, apparently he was a taciturn man.

Unexpectedly, a young man behind him raised his head. There was a slight excitement to his tone: "Empress, your servant must report something important. As the Empress previously commanded, the whole Zhu Yu Shi family has already been eliminated on their journey south."

The speaker was Lu Bing Zhong, the deputy commander of the Tianwu branch and Yuan Luo was unable to ignore the scorching heat he was unable to conceal in his eyes when they fell on her body.

The imperial concubines appearance was absolutely gorgeous and, no matter how much her character may be lacking, there will be no shortage of these types of licking dog life forms. For example, the guy in front of her. On the basis of those little hidden thoughts, she estimated that this deputy commander Lu Bing Zhong’s loyalty toward her very likely surpassed that of his taciturn and overly cautious superior.

However, this matter that Lu Bing Zhong mentioned… Yuan Luo’s eyebrows slightly twitched. She remembered that business.

It was mentioned in the original book that Zhu Yu Shi was a rash person and was instigated by the people of the East China Sea king to impeach her. Sikong Lin was furious and in that very same court he demanded that Yu Shi should be canned to death, but a group of state officials begged for leniency. Yu Shi had the right to make a report. Because his speech alone was not enough for him to be killed, Sikong Lin instead demoted him to the southern part of the country to be a country magistrate.

Yuan Luo was not a person who could agree to leave a matter at that. She ordered Miao Zi Fang to dispatch people to catch up with and kill Zhu Yu Shi’s whole family at the halfway point on the road south. They were to leave neither a chicken or dog alive. It was only natural that a roadside robber was planted to take the criminal charge.

That matter was not a glorious thing to do and, following Yuan Luo’s later defeat, it also became one of the many criminal charges against her.

Yuan Luo couldn’t help asking: "Have any traces been left behind?"

Lu Bing Zhong bowed his head and said: "All the corpses have already been burned and there are absolutely no traces."

Miao Zi Fang lowered his gaze, his expression stationary.

Regarding the original owner’s dark history, Yuan Luo chuckled inwardly and reluctantly praised Lu Bing Zhong with a  few words.

People cannot come back to life after death and she also could not save the past. However, there was still time to rescue that which still had yet to occur.

For instance, today she had seen the tournament of the imperial guards in front of the palace hall. She took a couple of steps down the stairs and asked: "Commander Miao, during today’s tournament, I don’t know what happened to that injured person. How is he?"

Miao Zi Fang had never expected the imperial concubine to ask about this matter. As a matter of fact, his haste just now was precisely for this reason, to go look after the wounded subordinate.

"The wounded, who received the Holy Grace, have already had medical officers summoned for diagnosis and treatment. It is only that their skills are not highly perfected, so your servant will be sure to severely punish them later."

----
TN:
As this is a shorter than normal chapter, both parts will be published on the same night. Enjoy!